My rival, my inspiration
by TheeObliterator
Summary: He was the one who motivated me to be the person who I am now. How I wish he was here so I could thank him...


Time.

It flies so fast, it feels like yesterday when I first got my Pokemòn. Now, I'm more than just a trainer. I'm very successful; after all, what do you expect from the grandson of Professor Oak? I was able to reclaim the title of Pokemòn Champion from Lance; and it was one heck of a duel. Afterwards, I retired from being champion and returned to my Gym. I became some sort of mentor to the trainer named Gold, as he would visit once in a while. After all, he too rivaled my accomplishments as a trainer.

Many years have passed and surprisingly, I followed gramps footsteps. At first, I thought that it would be pretty boring just spending the entire day wearing a lab coat and doing nothing but research. But overtime, I realized that there was more than just being a Pokemòn Professor.

I travelled across the globe, searching for rare species of Pokemòn. I met many new friends and co-Pokemòn fanatics. We would climb countless mountains, dozens of dungeons, and cross many rivers, just to search for these creatures. I've even caught up and caught every single Pokemòn, excluding some legendary ones.

Eventually, I met the woman of my dreams and I got married. We have 2 kids, one boy and one girl. Now, we're expecting our third. I continued being a Pokemòn professor, until I ultimately became gramps successor when he passed away. I met many trainers, and I became some sort of father figure to them. In some occasions, I would accompany them in their journey. Up to this point, I'm still considered as one of the best trainers who ever lived.

I get invitations to join the legendary Pokemòn trainers duel held every 2 years. I just simply turn them down, as I myself know that my time is up.

I changed from once this arrogant punk kid who thinks he's the best trainer of all time. Now, I know my priorities and as much as I hate to say it, I'm more down to Earth, haha.

You might ask, what motivated me? Well, it's a simple answer to a simple question.

My rival, _Red_.

xXx

Damn that kid. He just disappeared after kicking my ass and becoming Pokemòn champion. To be honest, I hated him. I hated him because he stripped me of my title. Not only that, he beat me on live television broadcast. To make things worse, he gave the title to Lance.

Word is, he continued roaming around the globe, like what I'm currently doing. He captured many Pokemòn that are not known to Kanto nor Johto. On one occasion, I visited gramps lab and saw a soft copy of Red's Pokedex on gramps PC.

It was being updated in real time. The last Pokemòn he captured was dated 3 days ago, and it was at Sinnoh. I kept scrolling down and holy mackerel, his Pokedex is stuffed!

You could say that after seeing his Pokedex, it inspired me and made me want to travel and do what he does. And I hoped that I would encounter him.

Years have passed and I returned back home. It was at this time when I first met my girlfriend. I was around 19 at that time, and she was 17. There was a celebration held for my successful trip, and it was the same day that I decided to be like gramps when I reach the age of 23.

Gramps and I were the last two people who remained at the party hall. We were talking about Pokemòn and my trip. I asked him, "Have you heard from that snot-nosed kid Red?" I was surprised when he told me that his Pokedex stopped updating when I was at Unova.

Unova was the last region I visited before I returned home. I asked him where his last location was, and he replied "Mount Silver."

I felt some sort of sting on my heart when I heard gramps say Mt. Silver. I didn't knew why, but I felt something was off. He asked me if I was okay, and I immediately replied yes. But the feeling I was getting was somehow disturbing my soul. I shrugged it off and continued my chitchat with gramps.

xXx

It's been three months since I got home. I was at Goldenrod for a radio interview when I received an urgent call from Professor Elm.

"Green!" Professor Elm yelled my name on the phone

"What is it Professor Elm?" I replied

"No time to answer. I need you back here at my lab!" he replied before the line was cut

I could feel tension in his voice, so I returned to his lab at New Bark town. Gold was there too, and this was the second time we met after our first duel at my Gym. Professor Elm gestured me on his PC, and I was surprised to see gramps on the screen. Turns out, they were having a video call together with Gold.

"Hey gramps. Somethin' wrong?"

"Red... I lost signal of his Pokedex." gramps replied

I cringed when I heard Red. I totally forgot about him after the night gramps told me that his Pokedex stopped updating. That was three months ago. My eyes were wide open and my thoughts seduce me with the fact that something terribly wrong has happened to him.

I continued to talk with gramps and he instructed Gold and I to go to Mt. Silver to investigate. He also told us that we'd meet at the center of the Mountain. I immediately accepted and prepared for an expedition towards Mt. Silver.

xXx

Gold's family was kind enough to let me stay. It was my last night at New Bark town, as tomorrow will be the day Gold and I will be going to Mt. Silver. We already prepared our stuff and prepared to sleep. I couldn't sleep at that time, as I was having constant nightmares about Red. I got out of the house and strolled around, trying to clear my thoughts. Gold saw me and he accompanied me.

We talked about our duel and how good he was. He told me that he aced through the other gym leaders in Johto, but he had difficulty with me. I also noted that he was as good as Red, but he was better when it comes to balancing his team. Oddly enough, he was the first person besides gramps who knew that I'm pursuing to be a Pokemòn professor.

As we talked, it seemed that I totally forgot about the current situation with Red. That is until we heard the alarm in his room, signaling that it was time for us to go.

5:30 AM,

We left Gold's house and got our last briefing with Professor Elm. He told us that gramps was on the way and we have to catch up. He gave us two radios. We only had to choose a single Pokemòn, so I chose a Charizaed I caught recently and Gold chose his trusty Typhlosion.

We embarked on our quest, and we were glad we had fire type Pokemòn with us. It was freezing, and I could feel the ice trying to take over my body. Not only that, I could feel such an eerie presence once we stepped foot on the Mountain. We finally got to the middle part and we saw gramps there, setting up camp.

We spent the night there, and we talked to Professor Elm on the radio. Professor Elm warned us that there'll be a blizzard tomorrow, but that I didn't want to stop looking for Red. He also reminded us to be careful of the wild Pokemòn around Mt. Silver. Gold asked him if the signal tracker found Red, but Professor Elm replied "No, not yet."

6:30 AM

We woke up from a distress call from Professor Elm. He told us that Red's last known location was at the top of the Mt. Silver. We immediately packed up and I brought out my Charizard. All three of us got on it's back and Charizaed flew towards the top. It wasn't easy, as wild flying type Pokemòn were chasing us. But luckily, my Charizard were able to hold them off.

We decided to continue on foot, as we were near the summit. Gold brought out his Typhlosion once more to keep is all warm. We kept walking and walking, and it was getting harder to see due to the thick snow. We halted and resided inside a cave. There, I let my thoughts drift away with me. It wasn't doing me any better, as it only make me overthink about Red.

I checked my watch, and the time was 13:30. It was the same time when I checked my watch when I brought out my last Pokemòn when we were fighting for the title of Pokemòn champion. It was odd, and it made things worse for me mentally.

After an hour, we continued our trek. Gramps was talking to Professor Elm via radio to guide us towards Red. I stopped when I felt something crackle on my foot. When I looked down, it sent chills down my spine.

It was a broken Pokeball. I couldn't move out of fear. The Pokeball was destroyed and had some blood stains on it. I tried to call Gold and Professor Oak but they never responded. I followed them and I realized that we were at the summit, and we were in front of Red's lifeless corpse.

His body was blue and pale. He had blood dripped from his forehead, which was now frozen. He was missing an eyeball, his clothes were tattered, and his legs were broken. Around him were his Pokeballs, whom were destroyed and dysfunctional, meaning the Pokemòn inside were dead. I felt tears streaming down on my face, Professor Oak couldn't even look at Red.

His body was so broken, he looked pitiful, and he died along with his beloved Pokemòn. Gold yelled towards us and caught our attention. We followed him and we were surprised at what we saw.

It was Red's Pikachu, frozen but showing signs of life. Professor Oak immediately took it and wrapped a blanket around the poor thing. He also called for a helicopter ASAP once the blizzard has settled.

After an hour, the chopper arrived along with paramedics. They took Red's lifeless body and placed it inside a bag. Pikachu was placed in an incubator. All of us got aboard and the chopper set a course towards New Pallet town. I was mentally broken at that time. I was shocked, it was hard to imagine what happened to Red. And for sure, his mother would be the same; or worse.

xXx

Three days had passed and a funeral was held for Red. His mother kept crying and crying for the loss of her son. I too, was broken; but I didn't showed it to anybody. Not to Red's mother, Gold, gramps, to my girlfriend, or to anybody. I cry like a little kid whenever I'm alone. I couldn't accept the fact that he was gone. This one person whom was my equal, died all of sudden. It was hard to accept, but I knew I had to.

After he was buried, Professor Oak gave me Red's Pikachu. The yellow creature had lost one of his arms, had one of his eyes covered with a patch, and he had a scar on his chest. I ran towards it and hugged it as if it was my own. I could fell it's tears dripping on my chest with a pitiful "Pika" voice. I too, cried.

Ever since, his Pikachu has been my partner in my work. I brought it with me wherever I go, as the I was helping it overcome depression after losing his original trainer. During my wedding, he was the ring-bearer. Oh how I wish Red was the best man. Overtime, we all moved on from his death. I realized that he left a hole for me to fit in. A hole that he entrusted to me, something he planned for the future. And this is the hole he left me. It's nearly filled, but it enlarges every time I go on a journey.

I was glad that his death brought us something good. Yes, I know death is tragic, but his death was symbolic. It inspired all of us to achieve what he achieves. I dream that one day, I'll be able to encounter his spirit and duel him. After all, Gold got me jealous when he told me that he fought someone who looked like Red when he recently went to Mt. Silver.

Together with his Pikachu, I dream that we can continue his legacy. Though I wish he was here, to see what I've accomplished. I always asked myself, if he was alive, will I still be the person same person? Will I still be a well known Pokemòn professor? I keep thinking about that every day. But I realized things would be different if he was here. Maybe I'm still sulking at my gym, waiting for a worthy opponent. Or maybe I'm still an immature brat.

Man, time flies so fast. Tomorrow will be his 10th death anniversary. I'm glad to say Pikachu is still healthy, and so am I.

How I wish he was just here, just so I could thank him for inspiring me.

Thank you, Red.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Yo! This was just random hahaha. I skipped school today and I just relaxed at home playing MGS V the entire day hehe. Welp, I hope you guys will enjoy this Pokemòn one-shot of mine. Reviews are welcome! :)**


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